


7. Tantrum

by love_write_edit_sleep



Series: Child's Play (DBH 31 Fic Challenge) [7]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Crying, Fighting, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kid!RK900, Lots of emotions between the boys, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 12:56:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15685869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love_write_edit_sleep/pseuds/love_write_edit_sleep
Summary: Richard, angry with everything, throws a tantrum to get a reaction. However, Gavin’s reaction wasn’t the reaction he’d expected…





	7. Tantrum

********“I’m not a baby!”

“You’re a child!”

“So?!”

“So you can’t do shit like that!”

“You used to let me!”

“Yeah, when you were a fucking RK900!”

Gavin hated moments like this, where Richard couldn’t understand why he was no longer able to do the things he previously did, like going to work or going for a stroll alone. Gavin often found himself supervising Richard if he wanted to do anything a kid shouldn’t be doing alone, but this was ridiculous.  

Right now, Gavin was trying to explain why Richard wasn’t allowed to ride on his motorcycle.

“You don’t let me do anything fun!” Richard cried, glaring up at Gavin. Gavin gasped in offence.

“Hey, no! I let you do fun stuff! I just don’t let you do anything dangerous, like the fucking motorcycle!”

“I just want a tiny go!”

“No! Wh-what if you fall off and smack your head open? Huh? What if you die again? What if your memory is corrupted and I can’t get you back!?”

“What if you dwive-”

“No! You’re not going on the fucking motorcycle! You’re a kid!”

“It’s your fawlt I’m like this anyway!” Richard spat. “You did this! I didn’t want this but you did it anyway!”

“What-?”

“You wuined evewything!”

“Richard, that’s not fair!”

“It’s your fawlt I habe all these emotions and the stupid lisp and it’s your fawlt I can’t work anymowe and it’s your fawlt I want to imagine and draw and do stupid pointless things that don’t make sense! It’s all because of you!”

“Richard-”

“I hate you!”

Gavin burst into tears.

Richard watched in horror, his expression falling as Gavin fell back onto the couch and fell apart, burying his face in his hands to muffle his choked sobs. Richard’s eyes began to fill with tears as he watched Gavin’s body jolt with each sob before nervously approaching him.

“Gabin…? I-I didn’t mean it…” Richard whispered, twiddling his fingers.

“Wh-where's the phone…?”

“No!” Richard cried, throwing himself forward and clinging to Gavin’s leg as he, too, started to cry. “I’m sowwy! Pwease don’t send me back to CyberWife! I’ll be good! I pwomise!”

“Richard-”

“Gabin, pwease don’t…”

“I’m not…” Gavin whispered, pulling Richard up onto his lap and pulling him close, cuddling him. Richard buried his face in Gavin’s shoulder. “I’m not sending you back, I just want to call Connor. He was right, I can’t look after a fucking kid… I’m just like my old man. Connor’ll be better at looking after you.”

“Y-you’re not like him! Gabin, I-I don’t want Con-Con to look after me.” Richard whimpered. His chest and his throat were starting to hurt as he sobbed into Gavin’s shirt. “I want you! I didn’t mean what I said, I just wanted a go on the bike, I don’t hate you, I don’t bwame you! Pwease don’t send me away…” Richard sobbed. “Pwease, Gabin…”

“Richard, what I was doing just then, swearing and yelling at you, that’s not what a good parent does. Connor won’t do that.” Gavin sighed, rubbing Richard’s back as the child cried.

“You were twying to keep me safe and I was fighting… Connor would give in and let me wide it anyway…”

“Yeah, he probably would, actually…”

Connor wasn’t programmed with anything about childcare, but a lot about police routines, like negotiations and questioning. He’d probably find a way for Richard to ride the Motorcycle.

“Pwease don’t send me away, Gabin…” Richard sniffed, nuzzling closer to Gavin. “I’ll stop fighting, it’ll be okay. I don’t wanna go…”

“But-”

“Did your Dad ever send you away?” Gavin froze.

His mind dragged up all the memories of the times his Dad had locked him out the house to get some ‘alone time’ and passed out before he could unlock it again. If Gavin was lucky, he grabbed the spare key as his Father dragged him through the house and threw him out, but that hadn’t been often.

“Yeah.” Gavin whispered. He could practically feel the cold against his skin as he recalled lying in the snow one night when he’d been too slow to grab the key. “Yeah, I fucking hated it…”

“I don’t wanna be sent away, Gabin…”

“Okay.” Gavin gave in. “Okay…”

“I don’t hate you… A-And it’s not your fawlt. You did the best thing you thought. I’ll get used to it.”

“I shouldn’t hav-”

“I’m still Wichard…” The child sniffled, halting Gavin’s words. “I’m still hewe…”

“I know, I know you are, I just… I don’t know what to do… Do I treat you like a kid or an adult, an RK800 or a YK500? Do I tell you to embrace it or fight it? Do I be your boyfriend or your guardian? I-I don’t know what the right thing to do is…”

“Maffew and Con-Con say to embwace it as a YK500… So let’s keep doing that, okay?”

“Okay.”

“But I won’t awgue anymowe, and you won’t swear, okay?”

“Okay, yeah, that sounds good…”

“I don’t hate you.”

“I know. Listen, I’m gonna call Connor anyway and tell him what happened, okay?”

“Okay. can we keep hugging for a while?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure.”

* * *

_“Sorry, Hank… I guess I fell asleep._

_Gavin just called… He said he and Richard had a fight over his motorcycle. It didn’t go well. Richard told Gavin he hates him in the heat of the moment, and Gavin took it badly. He thinks he’s like his Father, and I don’t know what to tell him. You’d know what to say to him…_

_Richard says hi. He misses you. He said when you wake up he’s going to tell you how much you mean to him because he doesn’t think he’s ever told you before. He regrets not telling you._

_Hank, I promise to buy you the most unhealthy burger in existence if you wake up soon… Please, Dad. I’m scared…”_


End file.
